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(No Model.)

E. R. COWLES. WHIP.

No. 451,028. Patented-Apr. 28, 1891.

U WITNESSES:

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EZRA R. COlVLES, OF IVESTFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

WHIP.

SPECIFICATION forming part'of Letters Patent No. 451,028, dated April 28,1891.

Application filed June 21, 1889.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EZRA R. OOWLEs, of W'estfield, in the county of I-Iampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Vhips, of which i the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part thereof.

Myinvention relates to the manufacture of whips and analogous articlessuch as canes, fishing-rods, &c.and especially to means for providing such articles with the name and address of the owner thereof or the maker thereof, or both; and it has for its object to provide means for this purpose, whereby such data can be very quickly applied to said articles, and when so applied will be entirely protected from moisture and from wear.

It is very desirable that the finer grades of whips, valuable canes, fishing-rods, 6120., should have thereon the name or name and address of the owner as a protection against loss and as a means of identification thereof, and such feature is also valuable to the manufacturer as an advertisement of his Work.

It has been customary heretofore in providing such whips as have a braided or plaited textile covering with the owners name to form said name by interbraiding or plaitin g threadsof a distinctive color with the threads forming the covering in such manner as to form the desired letters. Such method requires very expert operators and requires much time for its performance, a single operator rarely being able to letter more than four whips per day, thus rendering the operation one involving considerable expense. Moreover, the letters thus formed upon the whip are exposed to the deleterious effects of moisture and to the Wear incident to the use of the whip, so that they soon become defaced in such manner as to not only destroy their usefulness, but also to seriously impair the beauty of the whip.

As hereinbefore stated, it is the object of my invention to obviate these objections to existing methods; and to this end the invention consists in a whip-or analogous article having thereon lines or characters of a distinctive nature and having said lines or characters covered by a transparent waterproof compound.

Serial No. 315,052. (No model.)

I prefer to employ as the covering medium the compound known as celluloid or zylonite, and to use the same in the form of a tube, as illustrated in the drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view of a whip having a name thereon, but without the covering for the latter. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of said whip after the covering for the name has been applied thereto. Fig. 3 is a view of the transparent and waterproof tube preferably employed as the covering medium.

In the practice of myinvention I form upon some convenient portion of the whip aas, for example, just above the handle portion thereof, as shownthe lines or characters which it is desired to place upon the whip. If it be the name or name and address of the owner or the maker, the letters thereof can be written or printed in ink, or can be otherwise formed upon the body of the whip itself, or can be Written or printed upon a paper or other wrapping applied to the whip. In most cases I prefer to form the letters upon a strip of paper of sufficient width to surround the whip with a pen, using inks of contrasting colors, whereby a very attractive design can be secured, and then secure said strip to the whip by pasting or in any convenient manner. After the desired data havebeen thus applied to the whip, the transparent waterproof covering is secured thereto. As before stated, I prefer to utilize for this purpose celluloid or zylonite, because of the transparent and water-proof properties thereof, because of the facility with which said compounds can be worked into tubular form, and because of the almost endless variety of colors in which they can be produced.

The letter Z) designates a tube formed from one of said compounds, and in applying it to the whip I start it upon the latter at the tipv end thereof and draw it toward the butt until it reaches the proper point to: cover the data formed on the whip. The buttons 0 c are then applied to or formed upon the whip in such manner as to cover the ends of the tube 6, and the operation is completed. The tube is prevented by said buttons from endwise movement; but I have found that by heating the tube in warm water before applying it to the whip it hugs the latter so closely when it cools that-all eudwise or other movement thereof is prevented. By thus covering the ends of the tube with the buttons moisture is prevented from penetrating with in the tube, and the letters or other lines on the Whip beneath it are preserved in their original condition. The surface of the tube Z) being perfectly smooth dirt will not adhere thereto, and by making it of an attractive color it of itself serves as an ornament to the Whip.

I design to utilize my invention also as a means of ornamentation of a Whip simplyloy forming upon the latter any desired ornamentation in ink or otherwise and then applying the covering medium, as before described, the ornamental design being thereby preserved in its original beauty throughout the entire life of the whip.

The ease and rapidity with which the operation herein described can be performed render the expense of thus completing a whip very slight in comparison with the method hereinbefore referred to. 1

It is obvious that the invention herein del scribed is equally applicable to canes, fishingrods, billiard-cues, and other analogous artioles, and I do not wish to limit its application to whips simply.

Inasmuch as there are many other compounds than those herein mentioned possessing the properties specified, I do not wish to limit myself to the use of celluloid or zylonite as the covering medium, although I regard them as being admirably adapted to the purpose.

Having thus fully described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A whip having a seamless transparent tube of Water-proof material applied thereto and buttons or ferrules covering the ends of said tube, and a distinctive mark or name on the Whip under said tube, substantially as described.

EZRA R. COWLES' Witnesses:

W. H. CHAPMAN, J. E. CHAPMAN. 

